3D Printing Achieves 34.9% Growth Rate The 3D printing industry, which took its first breath in 1986 with the invention of stereolithography by Chuck Hull, achieved $3.07 billion in revenues last year, according to the Wohlers Report 2014.
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On November 20th, The Economist Innovation Awards 2013 honored Chuck Hull, inventor of Stereolithography (SLA) & co-founder of one of the world's leading 3D printing companies - 3D Systems. Recognized for his pioneering role in the technology and his contributions to its development, Chuck Hull was awarded, along with Bre Pettis of Makerbot fame, in the Consumer Products category.
Seen as the Father of 3D printing, Hull developed the very first 3D printing process, SLA, in 1983. In 1986, his patent for an 'Apparatus for Production of Three-Dimensional Objects by stereo lithography” was granted and 3D printing was born.
An early stereo lithography machine
Interestingly, he also developed the .stl (surface tesselation language) file format which, for over 25 years, has been the de facto industry standard for sliced, printable 3D model files. Today however, that format is on its way to being replaced by .amf (additive manufacturing format) - a more versatile and compact format that overcomes several of the limitations of its predecessor.
image courtesy - University of Louisville
The recent meteoric rise of 3D printing has been incredible given that Hull initially developed SLA three decades ago in an attempt to give automotive companies in the USA a fresh competitive edge. On March 9 , 1983 Hull successfully printed his first 3D object using SLA. It was a teacup.
Fast forward to today, and 3D printing is being ushered in as the 'third industrial revolution', having moved on from plastic prototypes to manufacturing end-use metal parts and printing real human organs!
Here is a snapshot of the history of 3D printing.
For Imaginarium, SLA has been at the core of our offerings right from the very beginning. Near and dear to us, it was the technology we began with to pioneer rapid prototyping in the jewellery industry, and it really has been quite a journey since our first Viper SLA.
Today we run a greater number and variety of 3D printers, several of which are from 3D Systems. The success of these machines, and recognition of the technology in general, has been remarkably overdue given the three decades since its advent. It has been an experience and an association we are proud of and immensely grateful for.
As mankind takes a giant leap into the future of design and manufacturing, embracing this revolution in machines, materials, methods and mindsets, we would like to applaud the man who took the first small steps...
“From the get go, I imagined that 3D printing would significantly change design and manufacturing as we know it, but I could not have anticipated the profound impact the technology would have on everything in our lives. It is both humbling and exhilarating to be apart of this incredible transformation.”
